Quebec election: Parti Québécois pledges new Invoice 101 to battle ‘steep decline’ of French

The Parti Québécois is pledging a revamped and stronger model of the landmark French-language constitution throughout the first 100 days if it varieties the following provincial authorities because the Quebec election marketing campaign entered its first full day.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon made the vow through the first full day of the Quebec election marketing campaign on Monday, saying there’s an urgency to behave and battle the “steep decline” of French.

“It’s not the time for half-measures and never for half-truths,” the chief of the occasion, which advocates for the independence of Quebec from Canada, instructed reporters.

The French-language constitution is named Invoice 101, which was first handed into legislation in August 1977 by the René Lévesque authorities. The laws was created to guard and bolster the language within the province whereas additionally paving the way in which to finish the dominance of English. It overhauled the linguistic make-up of Quebec, and it has been extensively hailed and criticized for greater than 40 years.

The Parti Québécois argues that the Coalition Avenir Québec authorities’s latest language legislation, often known as Invoice 96, doesn’t go far sufficient to safeguard the French language and tradition. St-Pierre Plamondon stated the CAQ has failed Quebecers.

He particularly pointed to how the proportion of people that primarily communicate French at dwelling continues to say no in almost all provinces and territories, together with Quebec, in response to the newest census launch.

“Within the brief time period, there’s a risk to the Quebec folks to see their language disappear little by little,” St-Pierre Plamondon stated.

St-Pierre Plamondon stated he needs to see the constitution be expanded to the province’s junior faculties, often known as CEGEPs. Doing so would stop non-anglophone college students from attending English-language CEGEPs. Because it stands, Invoice 101 is proscribed to elementary and secondary ranges, the place francophone and allophone college students should attend French-language colleges.

Except for the schooling system, the PQ additionally needs stricter measures for companies and immigrants, advocating that newcomers ought to have already got mastered French earlier than arriving in Quebec.

St-Pierre Plamondon stated Invoice 101 must be utilized to federally regulated firms. The PQ would additionally nix the bilingual standing of municipalities the place anglophones make up lower than 33 per cent of residents.

“These measures are vital as a result of they’ve structural impression on using the French language and thus have the capability to reverse the decline,” St-Pierre Plamondon stated.

The chief of the PQ, who can also be vying for his first seat within the provincial legislature, made the pledge to toughen the constitution within the newly named driving of Camille Laurin in Montreal’s northeast finish. St-Pierre Plamondon stated it was applicable to make the announcement there, because the late PQ minister Laurin is taken into account the daddy of Invoice 101.

The promise additionally comes because the PQ appears to bolster its presence on the nationwide meeting this upcoming election as latest polls positioned the occasion in fifth place. As soon as a powerhouse within the province, the occasion solely had seven members within the legislature initially of the election marketing campaign.

Voters head to the polls on Oct. 3.

— with information from The Canadian Press

2:01The proportion of individuals talking French as their first language continues to fall in Quebec, resulting in anxiousness over the way forward for the language